Little Lucy
by nickoteen
Summary: Team Natsu goes on a mission to take out a group of Dark mages. During that mission, Lucy is hit with a spell that reverts her back to her 8 year old self. Now, with no recent memories of anything except Natsu, Lucy must be taken care of the young dragon slayer until she returns to normal.
1. 8 year old Lucy

**AN: I do not own Fairy Tail, nor do I claim ownership. **

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"Natsu, your left!" Lucy quickly yelled out to her partner. The fire mage didn't react quickly enough, getting hit with the magical blast full on. He toppled into a wall, resulting in it crumbling on impact.

"Natsu!" Erza dealt with her combatant with haste, before rushing to her teammate's aid. Natsu got up, shaking off the attack and then concentrating at the mage who shot him. "I'm going to turn you into ashes!" He yelled out, the mage didn't hesitate to shoot another blast at him. The dragon slayer stood still, charging his roar.

The discharge was picking up speed; Lucy knew Natsu's attack wasn't going to be ready. She dove in front of her partner, taking the spell wholly. She flew backward, Natsu caught her accordingly. "Luce! Why'd you do that?!" She was unresponsive; her consciousness had been sapped away.

"You bastard, you'll pay for doing this to Lucy!" He focused his glare on the mage in front of him. Setting Lucy down, flame enshrined his body, adding a thunder layer on top.

"Thunder-Flame Dragon Art: Crimson Lightning Blade!" A swirling vortex of voltage and flames were sent hurling toward Lucy and his assailant, pushing him back into a wall, knocking him unconscious consequently.

Gray spontaneously came back into the room where Erza, Natsu, and Lucy had been fighting in, glancing over at the stellar mage with concern. "What happened?"

Natsu remained silent kneeling down to his partner, Erza responded with a saddened tone, "She was hit with one of the mage's attacks."

Gray frowned, walking over to his blonde teammate.

They gasped as they watched Lucy begin to shrink out of her clothes. "Lucy!" Natsu began to hysterically panic watching his partner minimize to the size of a little girl. The armored mage's eyes widened at the sight, while Gray sat speechless.

Lucy's body had seemed to jump back in time, reducing her figure to that of an 8 year old. "It seems that Lucy has been reverted back to when she was younger." Erza analyzed the still unconscious mage.

Natsu quickly took off his scarf, adorning his small partner with it and swaddling around her body. It was a perfect fit.

He picked her up and let her head lean on his chest. Gray walked over to the caster of the spell, shaking him awake. "What have you done to Lucy?!"

The caster smiled smugly. "Time Flux."

The ice mage's temper flared even more, seeing the enemy mage's smile only provoked him. "What does it do?!" Natsu watched Gray interrogate the caster, before turning to the small child in his arms. Lucy's breathing was steady; Natsu could feel her chest rise and fall.

"Heh heh."

The ice make wizard raised his fist; the glare he was giving could pierce through anything. "I'm not asking you again."

"The spell sends the victim back to a child form; the age however, is randomized. That's all."

"Tell us how to fix it!"

The caster maintained his smile, soon disappearing when Titania darkly stared at him from behind the ice wizard.

"Uh uh, it's temporary! It'll wear off soon!" Gray pondered what made the caster change his expression so quickly, before dismissing it and continued.

"How long?!"

Erza stepped closer, the caster shuddered as fear spread across his body. "I don't know! It varies!" The red head wasn't satisfied, closing in on Gray and the dark mage.

"Please! I've told you all I know! Please don't hurt me!" His eyes began to tear up at the presence of the Queen of Fairies. Erza stopped her pursuit and let out a sigh, realizing that they were not going to get anymore information out.

"Let's head back to guild. We'll see if Master Makarov knows anything."

Everyone turned their heads to the guild doors slamming open with a screaming Salamander running in. "Master! Something happened to Lucy!"

Eyes watched Natsu cause verbal chaos throughout the guild, then noticed the little blonde girl he was holding. Everyone's eyes widened at the realization of who it was.

Makarov soon emerged on the second floor, rushing down to see what all the commotion was about. "Calm down child. Tell me what happened."

Natsu laid his partner down on the table, Erza began explaining. "Lucy was hit with a spell known as 'Time Flux', which caused her body to regress into the state you see now." Makarov peered over the young Heartfilia on the table. He closed his eyes in thought. "I see." He said grimly.

"Is she going to be okay?!" Natsu's worried expression had grown worse at his master's dour frown. "She'll be fine. I'm just going to miss seeing her hot bod around the guild." Makarov was soon hit across the head by Mirajane.

"Master! This is serious!"

"But no need to worry child, the spell's effects will soon wear off. There's no telling when though." The elder of the guild said while rubbing the back of his head.

All the talking silenced when they noticed Lucy stir. She quietly opened her eyes and sat up; rubbing away any sleep that she might've had. Her small expression froze, seeing all of the guild members watch her with probing eyes.

"Where… Where am I?" Her voice was shaky, and the look on her face resembled that of fear.

"You're in Fairy Tail, Luce. Don't you remember?" Natsu frowned when she shook her head, then deepened when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"Who are you people?!" Her voice rang in everyone's ears, tears streamed down the little blonde's face from unfamiliarity. Her small form was soon hugged by her former bestfriend.

"No one's going to hurt you." Levy slightly tightened her embrace on Lucy. The blonde soon stopped crying, feeling a little at ease in the presence of the bluette. Levy soon unfastened her grip, and looked at the stellar mage.

"Luce! Snap out of it! It's us!" Lucy's re-composure was soon ruined when the dragon slayer shook her violently.

"Natsu! Stop it!" Mirajane cut in, effectively causing the frantic dragon to cease his action.

"Her memories have been reverted as well it seems." Erza kept scrutinizing the situation at hand.

"Na… Natsu." Everyone turned their head back to Lucy, who walked up to the pinkette and hugged his abdomen. "I remember you." The guild members furrowed their eyebrows at the sight.

"Ah, I see. Natsu, were you hit with a blast before Lucy?" Makarov watched Natsu as he put his finger to his chin, reminiscing on the battle that took place less than an hour ago. He finally remembered, "Yeah, I got hit with something, why?"

The guild watched their guild master piece together the mystery behind Lucy's acquaintance with the dragon slayer.

"Natsu, you were hit with a spell known as 'Time Channel', which enables the victim to transpire above time relativity in terms of memory. Lucy remembers you specifically because not only have you spent the most time with her, but Time Channel let's her remember all the missions she's gone on with you." Makarov stated matter-of-factly.

Erza, once again, had to explain to the confused dragon. "Lucy remembers you because of the spell the mage hit you with before her."

The intertwining of Natsu's mind began to shift, "Then why can't she remember you guys, or Fairy Tail?" Lucy clung onto Natsu's vest as she watched the unknown mages talk.

"She only remembers what happened on the missions and you specifically, not knowing what she was on the mission for, nor the people that accompanied her besides you. It's one giant blank to her." Makarov answered.

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**And that's the chapter. I'll continue it if it gets good feedback. this was just an idea I had, so I just sampled.**


	2. Natsu The Baby Sitter

"So… She doesn't remember Erza or the snowman… just me?" Natsu questioned the elder Dreyer. Makarov nodded, letting Natsu know that he hit it right on the head. "Now the question remains, who's going to watch her?"

Everyone fell silent, as Lucy partially hid behind Natsu's vest. Mirajane tenderly walked up to the small blonde. "Do you want to stay with me? My name's Mirajane." Lucy slightly swayed at the demon's presence. "I don't know who you are."

The barmaid's smile vaguely twitched before turning around and crying. People immediately surrounded the emotionally wounded model, uttering things like, "It's okay Mira" and "I'm sure she didn't mean it."

She quickly regained her confidence, realizing that this was an opportunity to set up the future couple she had desperately hoped for. "Then it's settled, Natsu will take care of Lucy." Erza commanded sternly.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted in disbelief at the red-head's declaration. The air was filled with statements about Natsu's caretaking skills. Erza's eyebrow convulsed at annoyance, "Natsu is the only one Lucy is familiar with, she is comfortable with him around and she'll be safe nonetheless."

Natsu breathed out in aggravation, he didn't know a single thing about taking care of someone, much less an eight year old girl. He thought about the teachings that Igneel had taught him, but soon dismissed it seeing as how it wouldn't work on a girl.

The dragon slayer felt a tug on his vest; he looked down seeing two big brown eyes staring right back. He looked back up and groaned. "I don't know how to take care of someone!"

Erza glared at him from a distance, Gray agreed with Natsu about his babysitting abilities. "It has to be you, Natsu; Lucy wouldn't feel comfortable with anybody else." Mirajane simply stated, smiling softly.

"Maybe hot head isn't up to the challenge." Gray smirked coolly, earning a growl in his direction.

"I can take care of Lucy! Just watch me!" Everyone smiled at Gray's incite. "Yeah! I'm all fired up!"

"You better take her home, it's getting pretty late." Erza said calmly, glancing over at Lucy who shuddered. Natsu re-focused his gaze back on his little partner, who was now messing with the scales on Igneel's scarf.

He patted her head gently, grinning. "I guess I'll be taking care of you Luce!"

Lucy's smile was small, "You can't even take care of a rock, Natsu!" Natsu's eyebrows strained at her remark. "I guess you can take care of yourself then!" He started to turn around before feeling another tug on his vest; Lucy's tiny grip held on to the fabric firmly. "No! Take care of me!" Her pout was extra cute with her small features.

"Fine but you have to do everything I say, okay?" The dragon slayer grinned once again, and Lucy was reluctant to say 'okay'. Everyone smiled at the makeshift father-daughter pair. They soon dispersed as Natsu held Lucy's hand and walked out of the guild.

They arrived at Lucy's apartment quickly; Natsu became annoyed at the constant complaints of being cold on the way there. The two entered, Lucy remained silent the whole time.

"I remember this place too; this is my apartment, right?" She questioned the young dragon slayer as he sat on her couch. "Yeah, this is your home; you pay 70,000 jewels for it every month." He explained.

She walked over to her bed to sit on it, a smile crossing her lips. "I always kick you out of here."

He groaned at the reminder, before peering over to her clock. "Okay, time for bed!" He remembered that she was still wearing his scarf as a cover. The fire mage opened Lucy's closet to scan her clothes. He saw pajamas that she must've worn when she was younger. The young Heartfilia watched as he walked over with train footsy pajamas.

"Okay, now take off your clothes." The dragon said impatiently as Lucy looked up at him with reddened cheeks. "I can dress myself you pervert!" She took the clothes abruptly and headed to the bathroom, closing it all together.

"I am not a pervert!" Natsu finally recomposed from his shock. He walked back over to the couch and waited for the blonde to come out. "I can't believe I have to babysit Lucy." He grumbled to himself, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

After five minutes, Lucy came out with her night clothes on and a smile, walking to the bed and climbing on top of it. She pulled back the blankets and fitted her body into it.

Natsu salvaged the little caretaking skills he had, "So um… Do you need anything? Water? Er.. Fish?" Lucy giggled at the last part, shaking her head and murmuring 'thank you though'. She soon fell asleep after saying goodnight, along with her pink haired baby sitter.

Lucy shivered violently under her blankets. She sat up holding herself in her arms, then looked at Natsu who was snoring softly.

"Natsu." Her small voice called out to the dragon mage, but fell useless.

She pouted while still trembling from the lack of heat.

"Natsu!" Her whisper-yell resulted in his small movement. He opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust them. He noticed the big brown orbs staring at him in the dark. "What?" He tried to disguise his irritation.

"I'm cold." She pouted vividly, pushing out her bottom lip for emphasis.

"Go find a blanket." He suggested agitatedly.

"It's too cold to get out of bed." She whined. "You're supposed to be taking care of me!"

"Ughhhh" He groaned as he got up and searched around her room. He was surprised that she didn't keep any extra blankets on or under her bed, not that she'd remember. After minutes of searching he couldn't hide his irritation any longer.

"Why don't you have any blankets in here?!" He questioned, she just shrugged before continuing to whine.

The pinkette sprung up with an idea as he ran into her bathroom. He brought back two towels, grinning at the brilliant thought he came up with.

"I'm not sleeping with towels! Those are still wet!" She pointed as said towels dripped water on the floor.

"Fire dragon palms!" He warmed the towels, evaporating the water. Lucy eyes widened when he didn't stop the fire, and disintegrated the towels completely. "My towels!"

He laughed while rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry about that haha."

"I'm still cold!" Her voice just made the annoyance in Natsu grow; as he came to the only solution he could think of. He walked over to her bed.

"Move over." He looked at her with slight disdain, Lucy complied aversely. He got into her bed and motioned for her to come closer to him. Her little body moved instinctively to the source of heat, hugging his arm.

She still felt cold despite the exuberating warmth her partner was exerting. She needed to get closer. Natsu froze when she climbed on top of him, gently placing her head onto his chest. Lucy could've sworn she felt him get warmer when she clambered onto his torso.

The fire mage let out a sigh and put an arm over her as she fell asleep.


	3. Mission Prep

The sun peeked in through the window, alerting the surrounding birds to start their melodious songs. Lucy opened her eyes slowly, blurrily looking over to her open closet. She felt herself rise and fall, remembering that she used Natsu's chest as a pillow. She admired the warmth emanating from beneath her, and slightly touched her hands on the pinkette's refined abs. They felt like smooth hot rocks, the kind that people lay on their back along their spine when they go to a spa.

She turned her head to look up at the sleeping fire mage, who had both his arms flung out from east to west. The little blonde quietly poked Salamander, hoping he would wake up at the small disturbance.

"Natsu." She whispered, trying to wake him up, but not too abruptly. He maintained his snoring; Lucy huffed at the deep sleeper. Her small form quickly scaled the mountain known as Natsu, and sat on his chest while poking his cheek.

"Natsu... Natsu... Natsu... Natsu..." She repeated his name after every poke, causing him to open one eye in annoyance.

"Lucy stopppp." He groaned, putting a pillow over his face. He peered over to Lucy's clock from under, then rolled his eyes at the ungodly hour.

"I'm hungry." The 8 year old mage announced.

"Feed me!"

Natsu sat up, causing his small partner to fall off his chest and onto his lap. She pouted up at him with her legs and arms crossed.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked down at the blonde. "What do you want to eat?"

"Breakfast!" She replied back without missing a beat. The pinkette realized that his culinary skills hadn't been improved whatsoever over the last few years, and that the only things he could do were to go to a nearby restaurant, or to the guild. He didn't want to give up so easily however, because that wasn't in his nature.

Lucy noticed the long pause her partner took, and realized the same thing he did. "You don't know how to cook… do you?" She flatlined her lips and glinted her eyes. Natsu immediately flashed his determination.

"How hard can it be?" Lucy frowned at her babysitter's response, knowing full well that something was going to go wrong.

They walked into the kitchen; Natsu scanned the room for cooking utensils. He walked over to Lucy's stove, putting his hand on his chin.

"Well? Aren't you going to turn it on?" Lucy's impatience and hunger were growing; Natsu looked at her with a blank stare, before grinning widely.

"I have no idea what to do haha."

Lucy frowned deeply, weeping at her comrade's ignorance. "You have to turn it on to cook the food!"

"Is that it? Oh, that's easy." Natsu threw on a white apron, along with a chef's hat he randomly pulled from thin air.

"Sit tight Luce! I'll cook you up something in no time!" He gathered three pans while Lucy took her seat at the small round table. She watched in shock at the Salamander cooking; scrambling the eggs, sizzling the bacon, and frying the sausage with just his lit hands under the pans.

He served Lucy her plate, elegantly decorated with a parcel leaf and orange juice next to it. Her famine was shortly subsided by her astonishment. Natsu stood to the left of her, grinning broadly at his culinary creation. She then turned her head to the steaming food in front of her, lifting up her fork slowly to analyze.

"C'mon Luce, eat up!" Natsu kept his stare at the uncertain blonde. She lifted up a sausage from her plate, and touched it to her lips, before taking a small bite. Her eyes widened at the scrumptiousness, diving into her food like she hadn't eaten in years. Natsu only relished in her action, laughing loudly.

"I'm a pretty good cook, eh?" Natsu's cockiness was drowned out by Lucy's gorging, which was all the answer he needed. He made a plate for himself, and scarfed it down at the same rate of his partner. Lucy smiled warmly at her empty plate, but then was hit with a question.

"Where did you learn how to cook?!" She pointed her finger, mentally accusing him for not telling her.

"Mira taught me when we were kids." He finished his plate and put it in the sink, before biting down. Lucy hadn't done the dishes in awhile it seemed, and he didn't want to do such a chore.

Lucy involuntarily nudged him, trying to put her plate in the sink as well, but was too short. She gave up and looked at the pinkette, frowning at her own short stature.

"You're so small!" Natsu laughed.

The blonde pouted, "Just put this in the sink!"

They walked out of the kitchen with together, and Lucy instinctively headed to her bed. Natsu silently watched the little girl make her bed, then turn to face him.

"I need to take a bath." She murmured, facing the Salamander.

"Go ahead Luce." He sat down messing with his scarf.

She hesitated, looking at her bathroom, before walking in. Natsu stared at the ceiling in boredom as he heard water begin to run, with the steam escaping from under the door frame.

He waited until he heard a faint jumping coming from inside the bathroom. He groaned as he wrapped his scarf around his eyes and followed his partner's scent. He knew exactly what she was trying to do.

He walked into the bathroom, hearing a gasp before Lucy closed her mouth at seeing he was blindfolded.

"Lift up your arms." He commanded. She did as she was told and he lifted her up, slowly dipping her into the tub. She sighed out in relief.

"You can go now." She said with a spoiled tone, Natsu just grumbled to himself under his scarf before walking out.

Lucy quickly finished and tried her best to climb out of the tub, which she successfully did. She got dressed with her old clothes and came out. Natsu stood up with excitement.

"Hey, you think we can do a mission?!"

The stellar mage glared at him, but then actually considered it. She wondered what she could do in her small state. She grasped onto one of her keys and froze, not remembering any of the Zodiac's names. Natsu let out an 'eh?' before seeing the confusion on her face.

"You don't remember?" He asked, she shook her slightly, frowning. All of a sudden, she found a familiar key, a golden gate with a crab on it. She smiled brightly, holding it up. "I open thee, gate of the crab! Cancer!"

A poof of smoke appeared with Cancer holding a pair of scissors.

"What can I do for you, bab-" he stopped at the sight of the little blonde 8 year old in front of him.

"Uh, where's Lucy?" His crab legs on his back went limp not seeing his owner.

"I am Lucy!" She called out to him, holding her key with the crab on it.

"She got turned into a kid again, crab man." Natsu put both his hands behind his head in a relaxed position.

His sunglasses sparkled at the new information, "Do you need a haircut?" He snipped his scissors at his sentence. She shook her head, "No, I just wanted to see if my keys still worked."

He frowned at her, "Alright then, I'm off, catch ya later… baby." And with that, he went back to the Spirit World.

The pair exited Lucy's apartment, and headed off to the guild, wanting to see what missions there were that'd be suitable for the small blonde. Everyone watched as the guild doors swung open, Lucy slightly shuddered into Natsu at everyone's unfamiliar presence.

"Hey hot head! Lucy! Let's go on a mission!" The ice mage yelled confidently, the stoic red head remained silent. Natsu and Lucy walked over to them, while Gray already held out a request form. Natsu scanned over it promptly, before his eyes widened.

"Four million jewels just to retrieve a bracelet?! Oh man I'm all fired up now!" He slightly singed the corner of the request, Lucy climbed on top of the table to meet the beautiful armored mage, and the droopy-eyed shirtless mage.

"Hi, I'm Lucy Heartfilia." She introduced herself cordially, forgetting that Gray had just called her name a few minutes ago.

The teammates just smiled, "I'm Erza Scarlet, it's a pleasure to meet you." She shook her small hand gently, softly smiling at the little blonde. "And I'm Gray Fulbuster." He caught Lucy off-guard but quickly eased her with the smile and small wave he was giving.

"Um… Gray… Where are you clothes…" Lucy questioned his awful stripping habit, he got up yelling 'damn it!' and searched around the guild. Erza took this opportunity to assess the stellar mage's condition about the mission.

"Lucy, would you like to accompany us on our mission?" Erza spoke tenderly, trying to reassure her that she was indeed, a friend. Lucy nodded with a smile, and paused. Her big brown orbs looked up and down the scarlet, before adding, "You're really pretty."

Erza blushed at the sudden compliment, and looked down. "Th-thank you..." She stammered on her words, everyone slightly chuckled at the red-head's embarrassment. Erza quickly regained her indomitable will however, "The train leaves in an hour." Natsu slammed his fist in excitement, "Let's go start packing Luce!" He yanked the unsuspecting blonde right off the table and pulled her forward like a rag doll. Team Natsu just smiled at the familiarity.


	4. Lucy's Mission pt 1

**AN: Hey guys, sorry this chapter is so short, I'm still trying to outline ideas for how I should go about this. But thanks for keeping up, I'll update a lot sooner. **

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Sprinting full speed toward the train station, Lucy and Natsu both saw the ice and armor mages waiting for them near the tracks. Lucy's eyes widened at the amount of luggage the red-head had decided to bring for their three day mission. She didn't question it however.

"Right on time." Erza calmly said as the pinkette and the blonde walked up in front of her. The train was to arrive at the station in 5 minutes. While they were waiting, Lucy couldn't take her eyes off of Erza, admiring the strength and poised beauty that radiated from her. She smiled and fiddled with her keys, realizing the extent of her gaze was becoming too long.

Lucy looked up at Natsu, who was still holding her hand. He displayed a bored expression,

"Natsu."

The said mage looked down to see what the little blonde wanted. Lucy looked up at him with a smile, "You hate trains right?"

Natsu groaned at the reminder, it seemed that was what he was trying to put out of his mind. "Yes Lucy."

Like the topic of the conversation was a call, the train soon pulled into the station, with the conductor's voice booming over the speakers. "All aboard! Next stop: Abrecia!" Erza commenced walking forward, signaling the rest of the team to follow.

Natsu slowly walked toward the train, awaiting the three hour ride. It was definitely one of the longer rides he has taken. They boarded the train promptly, taking a seat at the first open cart they saw.

The train steadily began pulling forward, the wheels spinning against the tracks. Lucy looked out the window along with Erza, while Gray had fallen asleep, and Natsu held his stomach in discomfort. Lucy turned to look at Natsu and frowned.

Her brown eyes were met with his onyx ones, and she stood up. "Let's go outside, yeah?" Natsu eagerly nodded his head and took her hand; the two exited the box car. They entered the space between the two moving cars and Natsu immediately slumped over the railing.

He watched the ground turn into a blur as the train traveled a fixed 90 miles per hour.

"Thank you for taking care of me…" Her voice came across meekly, especially with the roar of the speeding train filling the air. Natsu turned to look at her and weakly smiled, "No problem Luce. We are, partners after all."

Lucy smiled and walked up to him, tugging on his vest gently. The small mage motioned him to get down to her level, which he promptly did. She softly planted a kiss on his cheek and blushed sheepishly. A faint red tinted Natsu's cheek as his motion sickness evaporated into thin air. He touched his cheek and looked at his partner with a stunned expression.

Before the moment could last however, he flew himself over railing once more, covering his mouth which filled with his lunch.

Three hours passed, the train soon came to a screeching halt. Team Natsu departed from the train and gathered their luggage (more specifically, Erza gathered her luggage).

Abrecia was a rundown town, with dilapidated buildings and derelict walkways. Erza led the way to the address that had been written on the request. Lucy rode on Natsu's shoulders the entire way.

They arrived at a small house, broken windows and shambled roofing were the two things that stuck out most about the structure. Natsu felt Lucy begin to softly tremble against him; the building in front of them gave off an eerie aura.

The pinkette put his hands on Lucy's ankles and looked up at her; giving his characteristic smile to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. They walked into the building together and scanned the house.

It was a two story edifice, with wooden floors that had rotted ever so slightly. The stairs looked unstable and the railing had parts missing to it. Lucy shook even more at the condition it was in. The inside looked worse than the outside.

"Hello!? Anyone home?!" Natsu called out to the seemingly empty house. Gray immediately readied himself for any type of attack that might occur. "We're here from Fairy Tail." Erza said sternly.

"I don't like the looks of this…" Gray muttered under his breath. They began walking cautiously through the living room, making sure their steps didn't trigger any traps. Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's forehead and buried her head into his pinkish locks.

"Yes, hello Fairy Tail Mages."

Team Natsu immediately turned around and jumped at the voice behind them. They were ready to strike before stopping at the old man standing in front of them. "Are you the one that sent us the request?" Gray asked.

"Ohoho, yes I am. A dark guild has stolen our town's sacred bracelet."

Team Natsu all scowled at the old man,

"You never said anything about a dark guild." Erza said solemnly, darkly gazing at the elder.

The older man's expression shifted, staring at the ground with sorrow.

He was silent, contemplating what his answer was going to be.

"Due to the presence of a dark guild, this mission just became S-class." Gray added, magically losing his shirt.

Lucy looked at the ice mage and frowned, she knew why they couldn't do a mission of that caliber. Natsu squeezed his partner's ankles and looked up at her. "I think we can handle some weak dark guild, don't you?"

The blonde smiled brightly, and nodded her head.

"I'm sorry… I didn't think anyone would come if it was marked as a higher mission, we've just suffered so much, and the most we can offer is 4,000,000 jewels…" The old man didn't take his stare off the floor.

"You make it sound like 4,000,000 jewels isn't a lot… What exactly are we up against?"

The old man's scowl grew deeper. "If they are able to use the magic from the sacred bracelet, ten monsters from the book of Zeref will be resurrected…"

"Then we don't have time to waste then, huh?" Natsu smiled widely, pounding his fist into his open palm.


	5. Close Encounter

**Hey guys, so I decided to go a different route with this story, I'm going to make it kind of scary. Probably so scary that I'm going to have to change the rating to T, but we'll see. Enjoy :)**

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Team Natsu adjourned to a meeting, evaluating the pros and cons of the mission at hand.

"It'd be too dangerous to take on such a mission in our current state." Erza closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Lucy looked down in sorrow, knowing full well the 'condition' the redhead had mentioned was about her.

"Besides, we barely know anything about this dark guild, or the bracelet. We'd be going in blind."

"It's not like we haven't taken on tougher missions before." Gray interjected, his shirt still in an unknown location.

"We have Lucy's safety to worry about this time." She had finally vocalized Lucy's fear. The small blonde felt tears well up in her eyes; she didn't want to be a burden to her guild mates.

She ducked her head down into Natsu's pink locks and wept silently.

"Lucy's a lot stronger than you all give her credit for." Natsu said solemnly.

"Yeah, she's small, so what? That doesn't mean she can't fight. We're still a team, and we're not jeopardizing Fairy Tail's reputation by quitting this mission, we're following through."

Lucy peeked one of her red eyes to look at her partner's face, noticing the serious expression he was giving his teammates. Erza sighed while Gray smiled. "I never doubted Lucy's strength."

The stoic armor mage looked at the conjurer with a serious look.

"Will you be able to call upon your celestial spirits, Lucy?"

The blonde looked at her keys, then back to Erza, giving a confident smile and nod.

"Then it's settled, we'll go on the mission."

Team Natsu was on their way to the only hotel in Abrecia, they had left the old man and his shack a few hours ago.

* * *

(Flashback)

"_Then we don't have time to waste then, huh?" Natsu smiled widely, pounding his fist into his open palm. _

_The old man manifested a small beam at Natsu's action. "There's a vast forest north of Abrecia, there, you will find an ancient shrine. Within the shrine lies a powerful magic that could only be activated with the bracelet. Please stop the dark guild from obtaining it, if they succeed in their endeavors, who knows what will happen. _

"_We'll stop them old man, just leave it to Fairy Tail!" Natsu exclaimed, heading out the door with Lucy riding on his shoulders. _

_Erza wasn't sold however, as she hesitated to leave. _

"_We still must decide if we are to take on such a hefty request, due to our group being ill-informed and un-prepared. We'll let you know as soon as we can." _

_Gray and Erza soon followed Natsu out the door, leaving the old man's house in their wake. _

(End of Flashback)

* * *

They arrived at the dusty old hotel they were to be staying at. It read, "Abrecia Stay" and had a raggedy 'open' sign hanging in the window. Natsu was the first to walk in. The inside of the hotel looked a little better than the outside, the furniture looked well kept, with polished wooden flooring, the front desk was average, but the stairs to the upper stories looked a bit unstable.

The clerk popped up from under the desk, with a bright smile. The clerk was a young man probably no older than 25, with his hair slicked back and a piercing in his right ear.

"Welcome weary travelers! How may I be of service to you?" His enthusiasm poured into the room almost naturally. Gray walked up to him, "Can we get three adjoining rooms please?"

The young man nodded his head excitedly and ran to grab three room keys from the back.

"Geez… What's that guy's problem…?" Natsu said under his breath, then felt Lucy playing with his hair. He turned his head to look at her, and was met with her gaze. "You've been pretty quiet Luce, anything wrong?"

Lucy gave a small smile and shook her head. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just tired."

That was a lie of course, but she didn't want to tell him that she thought she was burdening her team. She knew Natsu would argue with her till the end of time, so it was better off he didn't know.

"Alright, as long as you're okay."

He turned to look straight forward again, watching the clerk hand the three keys to Gray. "Hey thanks." The ice mage said while walking up the rickety stairs. Erza, Natsu and Lucy followed close behind.

On the fourth floor, there was a long corridor that stretched 200 feet west, lined with doors on each side. Natsu and Lucy were sharing room 415. Erza and Gray had gotten rooms on the adjacent sides of Natsu.

The pinkette and the blonde walked up to their room and opened the door, to see one bedroom with an attached bathroom. It wasn't anything too luxurious, but the dragon slayer expected as much. It was already 9 p.m. by the time they had gotten to their room.

"Natsu, Lucy, Gray, we'll discuss this mission more in my room by 9 o clock tomorrow morning." Erza said to her team as she opened her door. The said mages nodded their heads.

"Make sure you get plenty of rest. Goodnight." And with that, the red head closed her door.

"See you guys in the morning." Gray yawned, walking into his room with a slouch.

Lucy was the first one to walk into the room and look around; Natsu closed the door and put his stuff down onto the bed.

"This place is so dusty!" Lucy wiped the little table in their room with her finger, picking up huge traces of dust.

"We're not staying here that long." The dragon slayer said as he climbed into the bed. He noticed the bed wasn't nearly as comfortable as his partner's was, but he didn't complain.

Lucy walked into the bathroom with her sleeping clothes and toothbrush and closed the door. The pinkette faintly heard the water from the sink running, then moments later a young Heartfilia emerged.

Natsu had fallen half asleep, but was soon woken when Lucy climbed on top of him.

"Why do you have to lie on top of me?" the slayer groaned, while the spirit mage simply nuzzled her head into his chest.

"Because you're warm." She stated quietly, already falling asleep. Natsu sighed and closed his eyes.

* * *

The next morning, Lucy woke up with an eerie feeling. She raised her head to scan the room, feeling like something was in there with them. It was empty, but she couldn't shake the odd sensation.

"Natsu…" She patted the dragon's chest, causing him to open one eye in annoyance.

"What is it?" He asked before opening his eyes wide.

"Who's there?!" He set Lucy to the side of him while sitting up, readying his fists. He scrutinized his surrounding to a point, but didn't see anyone.

"You feel the presence too, don't you?" The small blonde asked her partner, who nodded his head involuntarily. He was focused on the corner of the room, his eyes narrowing.

The tension grew heavier in that area; Natsu got up and walked slowly toward the corner. "Be careful…" Lucy said inaudibly. The dragon slayer nodded his head robotically as he punched the corner with full force, but made no contact.

_I will be free. _

A disturbing voice filled the room, Natsu turned to look at Lucy who was trembling violently in the bed.

"Who are you?" Natsu asked, still focused on the energy the corner was emitting.

_I shall consume your souls. Darkness. No light. No hope. _

The tension in the room then dissipated, but not the anxiety within Lucy. Erza burst into the room with her kitty pajamas on.

"Is everything alright? I thought I heard something!" She held a sword firmly between her hands, ready to strike.

"There was someone in here." Natsu said grimly, Lucy saw Gray run into their room naked, but battle ready.

"More like _some-thing_." Lucy added, shielding her eyes from the ice mage's nudity.

"Meeting in my room, now." The red head said, walking back.

* * *

They all sat on the floor in Erza's room, contemplating what just occurred.

"It may be one of the demons from the book of Zeref." Lucy said, placing her finger on her chin. Natsu agreed with a nod.

"What did it look like?" Gray asked, giving a steely gaze at the fire mage.

"That's the thing, I don't know. It was invisible, but I could sense its presence from a mile away. Lucy was the one who was aware of it first." He said, Lucy shuddered at the reminder of how it felt.

"His presence was so… dark, so evil…" the blonde held herself in her arms, trying to forget about it.

"Let's head back to the elderly man who requested us."

It took thirty minutes to leave the hotel with all their gear, fully clothed as well.

They arrived at their requester's old shack, but something was amiss about it. Erza looked at her teammates who all nodded, preparing themselves for the worst.

They walked in, and froze.


End file.
